Blanket with interchangeable halves



3 mm 29, 19% E. R. T. MARQUETTE 3,530,516

BLANKET WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HALVES Filed Nov. 6. 1967 Fig.2

IIlll/I/ I/I/ lI/IIIIIIIIIIIIYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlI/IIIII/l/I] Edmond R 7.Marque fie INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,530,516 BLANKET WITH INTERCHANGEABLE HALVESEdmond R. T. Marquette, P.0. Box 709, Houma, La. 70360 Filed Nov. 6,1967, Ser. No. 680,916 Int. Cl. A47g 9/00 US. Cl. 334 3 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention generally relates to a blanketfor a double bed for tWo occupants constructed with interchangeablehalves.

As exemplified in my prior Pat. No. 3,331,088 issued July 18, 1967,there has been provided blanket structures in which additive panels maybe mounted on an underlying blanket so that the effective thickness orwarmth characteristics of one half of the blanket may be varied in orderthat the warmth requirements of the two occupants may vary thus moreeffectively satisfying such warmth requirements of the two occupants.This invention represents improvements of the structure disclosed in myprevious patent and includes a double blanket structure constructed ofindependent halves with each half having a slide fastener tape alongeach edge thereof with the slider or travelling part of the fastenerassembly being on one edge of the panel. A conventional zipper withinterlocking components on tapes together with a slider may be employedor other types of slide fastener assembly may be employed. The slidefasteners terminate inwardly from the foot and head ends of the blanketfor eliminating possible injury to the face of the bed occupants andalso eliminates scratching of the surfaces of the bed such as theheadboard, footboard or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a double blanket withinterchangeable halves with the halves having different thicknesses tovary the warmth characteristics of the double blanket as set forthhereinabove which is relatively simple in construction, easy to assembleand disassemble and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the double blanket of the presentinvention assembled on the bed in a conventional manner.

FIG. 2 is a transverse, sectional view, on an enlarged scale, takenalong section line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating the structural details ofthe blanket; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the juncturebetween adjacent halves of a blanket.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral generallydesignates the blanket of the present invention which is associated withthe bed of conventional construction as designated by the numeral 12which includes the usual mattress 14, supporting rails 16, legs 18,headboard and other structural features normally associated withconventional double beds or the like. The blanket 10 includes two halfpanels 22 and 24 which are identical in size and shape as to length andwidth. When combined, the two half sections or half panels 22 and 24 areconnected together to form the blanket 10 with the size relationship ofthe blanket 10 being the same with respect to the mattress 14 as aconventional double blanket.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the half panel 22 is thicker than the halfpanel 24 so that a person occupying the side of the bed which is coveredby the half panel 22 will be retained in a warmer condition than theoccupant of the portion of the bed covered by the half panel 24. Inaddition to being of different thickness, the half panels 22 and 24 maybe constructed of different materials or otherwise constructeddifferently to provide different warmth characteristics for the twooccupants of the bed.

The two half panels 22 and 24 are connected together by a conventionalzipper slide fastener 26 which includes a pair of tapes 2 8 and 30 withinterlocking fastener elements thereon which are connected together ordisconnected by a slider 32 in a conventional and well-known manner. Asillustrated, the slide fastener 26 terminates in spaced relation to thehead end of the blanket, that is, the end adjacent the headboard andalso in spaced relation to the foot end thereof thus avoiding thepossibility of the zipper fastener 26 scratching the face or adjacentareas of either of the occupants and also prevents scratching of thefeet, ankles and the like. Further, this arrangement eliminatesscratching of the headboard or footboard inasmuch as the ends of theblanket are completely flexible and devoid of metallicinstrumentalities.

It is well known that when a zipper is constructed, one of the tapeswill have the slider permanently mounted thereon while the other tape isdisconnected therefrom. Thus, the panel 22 having the tape 28' thereonwith the slider element 32 will have a tape 30 on the opposite edgethereof which does not have the slider element 32 associated therewithwhereas the half panel 24 having the tape 30 thereon will have acorresponding tape 28 at the other edge thereof with the slider element32 associated therewith.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure with the zippers concealed by a bindingor flap 34 stitched to the blanket panel in a conventional manner forconcealing the zipper consruction 26 so that when the double blanket isassembled, it appears to be a continuous structure.

By employing the present invention, the blanket may be purchased inhalves at any time if one bed occupant wants to try a differentthickness of blanket while the other bed occupant is satisfied with thethickness being used. The half panels may be used on the double bed andmay be separated and used on single beds, if desired and then placedback on a double bed again. Thus, by purchasing a group of half panels,the double blanket may be constructed to the particular desires orrequirements of each individual occupant of a double bed.

This blanket is capable of being constructed of materials presentlybeing used to construct blankets may be constructed in various standardsizes to fit double beds and conventional manufacturing techniques areemployed to attach the zipper structures thereto. As an initialpurchase, two of the half panels 22 and 24 may be acquired. If one ofthe two half panels is too light or too heavy, an additional half may bepurchased or several additional halves may be purchased in order toobtain the desired assembly for the blanket dependent upon the desiresof the occupants of the bed. This construction is quite simple and easyto launder and clean and less likely to soil inasmuch as there is nounderlying panels attached to the half panels thereby retaining anover-all simplicity of construction which enables the halves of theblanket to be readily interchanged and enables those occupants of thedouble bed to be properly covered depending upon their inidvidual needs.

Additionally, the blanket is substantially conventional in appearancewhen using the zipper concealing flap 34 along each edge of each halfpanel so that the Zipper components at the outer edges of the assembledblanket are concealed as well as the connected zipper components asshown in FIG. 3.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A blanket comprising a large panel adapted to cover two occupants ofa double bed, and means extending along the central portion of the panelfrom end to end thereof for separating said panel into two completelyseparate and independent half panels, said means including a detachablefastening assembly to enable the detachable half panels to beinterchanged with other panels having different warmth characteristicsto enable the warmth requirements of each occupant to be satisfied, saidmeans extending along the center of the blanket including a slidefastener assembly including tapes with interlocking elements thereon andan interconnecting and disconnecting slider element mounted on one ofsaid tapes, said slider fastener assembly terminating in spaced relationto the head end and foot end of the blanket with the portions of theblanket longitudinally outward- 1y of the slider fastener assembly beingindependent of 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 together with abinding tape overlying the fastener construction for concealing thesame.

3. A blanket comprising a large single layer panel adapted to cover twooccupants of a double bed, said panel including two symmetrical halfpanels of substantially the same size and shape, one of said half panelshaving predetermined warmth characteristics commensurate with the warmthrequirements of the occupant covered thereby, the other of said halfpanels having diiferent predetermined warmth characteristicscommensurate with the warmth requirements of the occupant coveredthereby, and means extending along the central portion of the panel fromend to end thereof for separating said panel int-o completely separateand independent half panels of substantially the same size andconfiguration, said means including a detachable fastening assembly toenable the detachable half panels to be interchanged with other panelshaving different warmth characteristics to enable the warmthrequirements of each occupant to be satisfied, said detachable fasteningassem bl extending along the central portion of the panel and includinga slide fastener assembly including tapes with interlocking elementsthereon and an interconnecting and disconnecting slider element mountedon one of said tapes, said slide fastener assembly terminating in spacedrelation to the head end and foot end of the blanket with the portionsof the blanket longitudinally outwardly of the slide fastener assemblybeing independent of each other to eliminate scratching of the bed andinjuiy to the face and feet of the occupants.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1/1956 Roberts 5--334 7/1967Marquette 5-334

